Calculated Risk
by Ravenwood240
Summary: Complete! Before James was chosen for the Prophecy, he wanted to be a Knight in Shining Armour. But, Damsels in Distress are hard to find in the Montana Mountains. Sometimes, you have to rescue what's there. This is a stand alone part of Prophecy.
1. To the Rescue

_A/N:  Just a plot bunnie, based on something one of my brothers did, that I stole for James and Rose. In the Prophecy story, Rose alludes to this event, and it shows the extremes that James will go to, to save anything weak or helpless…  even if it's not what most of us would consider weak, or helpless._

_Disclaimer:  Wow.  Except for the use of the word Muggle a few times, everything here is mine, or public domain.  Muggles are JKR's… everything else is mine. _

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**_Calculated Risk_**

Somewhere in northern Montana, at the edge of the mountains sits a house.  An observer would notice first the size of the house, and then they might have noticed a few oddities, if they were observant enough.  They could not however, be reasonably expected to miss the two small figures skiing on the mountain behind the house.  Maybe if the pair had merely skied down the hill, they would not have been quite the spectacle.  Muggle skis had never gone up hills quite as swiftly as they came down those same hills.  At least, not until now.  The twosome skiing on the mountain were shooting up the slopes every bit as fast as they went down them, and making ninety-degree turns across the mountain.  Had a muggle stumbled on this scene, they might have written it all off as a vivid hallucination.  They would have been wrong to do so, but how could anyone not familiar with the ways of Wizards and Witches know that you could enchant skis as easily as you could a broomstick.

James Evans slowed as he reached the top of the mountain, waiting for his twin to catch up.  He felt Rose approaching and turned to grin at his sister.  "_Getting slow in your old age Sister mine?"_

Rose merely cocked her head and watched him.  Finally, she shook her head and spoke.  _"Slow is nice sometimes James.  I would like to live long enough to get slow.  You do know the hood of your parka is still back there on that branch don't you?"_

James reached for his collar, and surprise ran across his face when he found the jagged rip where his hood had been.  He fingered it for a minute and then grinned at his sister again.  _"You could have brought it with you so we could fix it."_  James looked back down the mountain and sighed.  _"I guess we'd better go back down and get it."_

Rose was about to say something when a rumble from the back of the mountain caught their attention.  They listened for a minute, and identified the sound at nearly the same instant.  James started toward the crest of the hill, and Rose went with him.  At the top, they looked down the backside of the mountain watching the avalanche sweeping down the mountain.  They had seen avalanches before, but this was the closest they had even been to one.  The wall of snow was nearly three hundred meters across, and thirty meters high.  It roared down the mountainside, and nothing stood before it.  Trees snapped like twigs, added to the tidal wave of destruction James and Rose watched as the snow reached the bottom of the hill, and spent its fury.  They looked down the mountain, seeing the wide area cleared by the snow.  Rose looked at James, and found him looking at the path of the avalanche with a considering eye.  _"James, what are you thinking about?"_  She asked, having seen that look before.  Usually, it meant trouble.  James continued to stare at the mountain below as he answered her absently.

_"Remember that show we saw, about surfing?  The front of the snow reminded me of the waves, and I was just wondering…"_

Rose cut him off.  _"Don't even think about it.  I will knock you out myself before letting try to surf an avalanche."_  Rose shook her head.  She loved her twin dearly, but James had no sense of personal danger.  Rose tried to keep some semblance of prudence, but even though James listened to her most of the time, he still acted on some of the scariest ideas.

James started down the hill, toward the area of the avalanche and Rose followed him.  _"Where are you going?"_ she asked.

_"I want to see if the area is clear enough of stumps and things to ski on."_  He sent back.  Rose shook her head, and followed James down the mountain.  About halfway down the mountain, James stopped and shook his head.  Rose felt his emotional spike through their link.  

_"What is it?"  _she started to ask, but he held up his hand.  As they stood there, she heard it also.  A low whining, the sound of an animal in pain.  James pulled his wand out and cast a spell that showed heat sources.  A glow started to their left and James headed for it.  Rose followed him, but she was thinking, estimating what the mountain had looked like before the avalanche had cleared everything off it.  _"James, isn't this where that wolverine has her den?"_  James looked around, considering the area.

_"Yes, I think so.  So?"  _he asked.

Rose stared at him.  _"Please tell me you're not planning on going into a wolverine's den, especially a wounded one's den."_  James just looked at her.  The twins exchanged looks for a minute and Rose threw up her hands.  _"You're nuts James.  She's not going to like what you're doing, and how do you plan on telling her that you're only trying to help?"_

_"Calculated risk Sister mine.  She sounds hurt enough that I can immobilize her before she gets me."  _James used his wand to push the snow away from the area of the glow, and then used it to move the dirt that had covered the entrance to the den.  As the den was exposed, the whining became a snarl.  Rose was pointing her wand at the hole, expecting the wolverine to jump out at any second.  James cast a second spell, defining the heat sources, and Rose groaned at the heat source from the den turned into one large one, and two smaller ones.

_"James she's not going to come out of there, she's got cubs."  _Rose said.  Should that hypothetical muggle have been watching this scene, he would not have heard a word from either of the two children.  James and Rose had modified their twinbond awhile back, and now they not only felt each other through it, they could speak as clearly as voices with it.  In front of other people, they still spoke aloud to each other, but when they were alone, the only words that they used were mental.

James considered the hole, and the snarling coming from it.  _"She's getting weaker Rose.  I don't think she's going to last much longer."  _Rose listened to the sounds from the den, and had to concede James was right.

_"How are we going to get her out of there?  I don't think we can wait until she actually passes out, can we?"  _Rose was getting into the rescue, following the lead of what muggles called the Alpha twin.  _"Can we get Joseph Blackwolf to help?"_

_"I don't think we have time for that.  I'm going to widen the den a bit more, and go in."  _James grinned at Rose's expression.  _"Don't worry, I'm not going to take any unnecessary chances."  _Rose rolled her eyes at that.  She thought the whole idea of going into an injured animal's den,especially one with cubs was unnecessary.  James looked at her as he prepared to move some more dirt.

_"Kits."  _At Rose's blank look, James elaborated.  _"A wolverine's babies are called kits, not cubs."  _Rose shook her head.

_"Thank you Professor Nature.  Can we save the lessons for after I see how many fingers you have left after this stunt?" _ Rose was getting uneasy as the entrance to the den got larger.  The growls echoing out of the den were not helping either.  Injured or not, getting weaker or not, wolverines were pound for pound the most dangerous carnivore in the woods.  If James was even a little slower than the injured animal, he was going to get hurt.

James widened the hole out enough for him to walk into it only slightly crouched over, and sent a small ball of light into the den.  For an instant, they saw the mother wolverine, nearly against the rear wall, with her kits behind her.  Then she lunged, awkward with her left front leg bent in ways Nature never meant it to bend, but still fast enough to snap at, and swallow the glowing light before James could put it out.  James and Rose looked at each other from the outside of the den, and backed up another couple of steps.

_"That leg is broken badly, and it's still bleeding.  We're going to have to do something Rose.  She won't make it through the winter that way, and if she doesn't, neither will those kits."  _James was walking around the entrance as Rose looked back at the den pointedly.  

_"She didn't look that bad to me.  She ate your light quick enough."  _Rose sent dryly.  James grinned, but kept walking around the entrance.  Rose watched him, recognizing the look on his face again.  _"James, what are you thinking?"_

_"I'm thinking you have faster reflexes than I do."_  James laid out his idea.  _"I'll go in there with another light.  You stand out here, and as soon as you can see her, you immobilize her.  I'll get the kits, and we can stop her bleeding before getting Joseph to take care of her."_

_"James, the last time we saw her, there was about one tenth of a second to cast a spell.  I might be faster than you, but I'm not that fast."_  Rose was doubtful.

_"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears.  I am not really eager to walk in there, I just can't think of any other way to get her out without hurting her even more._  James waited for a minute, while Rose thought.  When she shrugged he stood before the entrance, and looked back to make sure she was ready.  Rose had her wand out, and was far enough to one side that she wouldn't hit James.  James took a deep breath and lit another light.

James followed the light in, eyes straining to see the wolverine before she saw him, and turned him into the lunch special.  As he edged his way inside the cave, he suddenly had a random thought.  _"At least I'm still on the ground."  _He sent.

Rose choked as he reminded her of the previous summer.  She didn't say anything though, straining to see the wolverine first.  As it turned out, all three of them saw each other at the same time.

The wolverine lunged, James jumped back and Rose cast an animal version of the full body bind, but the beast was already in the air, and Rose felt the claws that tore at James as he fell under the assault of ninety pounds of muscle and teeth.  _"James!"_  Rose rushed forward, another spell ready even as James rolled the wolverine over.

_"You got her Rose, she only scratched me a little when she landed on me.  Let's get her bleeding stopped."_  James was already wrapping his scarf around the long gash that split the wolverine's leg from shoulder to paw.  _"We re going to need Joseph also Sister mine, the leg is broken too."_

James and Rose took a minute to catch the kits and immobilize them as well, and then set out for home with the three animals on a travois they threw together quickly.  It was not a work of art, nor would it last long, but it would get the injured beast back to the house.  Approaching the house, they saw their father come out and stare in their direction.  He stepped back inside the house, and then out again.  He lifted off the ground, and flew in their direction.  When he arrived, he landed his broomstick and walked over to the travois.  He looked at the injured wolverine and then at James and Rose.  Robert Evans knew his children, and this was not the first time they had brought an injured animal home.  "Is all that blood the animal's?"  was his only question.

"Most of it is, but it scratched me a little."  James admitted.  Robert told them he'd get Joseph, and that the cage was open.  He flew off towards the Cheyenne reservation where Joseph Blackwolf lived as the two children put the animals in the cage that Robert had built after James started bringing animals home.  Mary Evans heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on.  She watched the two of them until James bumped into something and hissed in pain.

"James, come here."  James jumped, and looked around at his mother.  He looked back at the wolverine, and Mary spoke again.  "Now."  James recognized that tone and Rose told him that she could handle it until Robert and Joseph got there.  James went inside with Mary, and when they were in the kitchen, she turned to him.  "Let's see it."  James sighed and opened his parka.  Running down the middle of his chest, from just below his collarbones to his waist were three long claw marks that were oozing blood.  Mary held down the fear that ran through her, and began examining the wounds.  "Tell me what happened."

James told her what had happened in his typical way.  "There was an avalanche on the other side of the mountain.  We went to check the area out for skiing, and heard the mother whining.  We freed her from the den, and brought her back.  Her leg is broken, and she has a bigger cut than I do."  Mary was very familiar with James's versions of things.  She probed for details much the same way she probed the wounds for dirt and the little feathers from the down parka.

By the time she was finished with James's wounds and ready to spread the healing ointment on it, she was certain she had an accurate picture of what had happened.  "So basically, you went into a wounded mother wolverine's den, and used yourself as bait to draw it out so your sister could stun it.  Is that about right?"  James tried to evade a direct answer, but Mary just stared at him.

James sighed.  "I guess you could put it that way yes."  Mary shook her head and checked the wounds on James.  The healing ointment was doing its job, and the wounds were closing up as she watched.  By the next morning, there wouldn't even be a scar there to show he'd been hurt.  Mary pulled him close.  She knew exactly why he did these things, and that she could no more stop him than stop the sun, but every time he came home with blood on him her heart stopped again. 

She pulled back from him and looked at him again.  "Would it do me any good to ask you to be careful again?"

James hugged his mother.  "I'm always careful Mom.  I just have a different idea about what careful is than you do."

Rose, Robert and Joseph had entered in time to hear that last exchange, and they all burst out laughing.  Robert grinned at his son.  "James, your idea of careful is not slapping a dragon… unless it's asleep first."  Mary joined the smiles at that, although she privately thought that Robert was not too far off the mark.  James patiently waited for the laughter and smiles to stop, and then turned to Joseph.

"Is the wolverine going to be alright?"  He asked, loftily ignoring the humor at his expense.  Joseph assured him that they could release the animals in the morning.

Joseph stayed for dinner and they had another good laugh as Rose told the story of the rescue with asides about what she'd been thinking along the way.  Even James had to laugh.  As they were relaxing over gooseberry pie and hot chocolate, there was a sudden clatter and noise outside.

Robert and James were the first two outside, and the others were not far behind them.  The cage the wolverine had been in was torn open down one side, and the three wolverines were nowhere to be seen.

James studied the cage, finding where the Mother wolverine had hooked her claws into it and pulled the steel mesh away from the frame.  He looked back at the others.  He rubbed his chest as he thought about those claws again.

"I guess she didn't want to wait for breakfast."

_A/N:  The avalanche, wolverine and James are all real.  Rose and the magic are not, and Joseph Blackwolf has had his name changed to protect me.  (Joseph does not like being used in my stories, which is terribly unfair, because after 68 years of living in the Montana mountains he has more stories than I could ever write.)  James did get the wolverine and her kits out, and it only cost him 38 stitches.  Three days later, the wolverine tore out the side of the cage we had the three of them in, and escaped.  None of us have seen any of the three since.  Soon, I think Logan's story about the Eaglet will be another story.  Rose did say something about it also, and I've been thinking about the story and how to write it ever since.  In the mean time, be nice people, read, and then review.  Or, do I have to write a truly gruesome pile of ferret cr*p to get lots of reviews?  (Ever notice the worst stories get the most reviews?  Barking mad that is.)_


	2. On Wings of Eagles

_**Calculated Risk II**_

James and Rose Evans were playing a game of their own devising when they heard the gunshot. Having grown up in the Montana mountains, they were very familiar with the sounds of guns, but this was high summer, and nowhere near any hunting season.

They stopped their game and looked at each other. They turned toward the sound, and as they did, a second shot rang out. They started toward the sound even as James snarled something Rose pretended not to hear under his breath. "Poacher."

Rose agreed with him. The Evans house was nearly fifteen miles out of town, and not many people knew about it, or that anyone lived out here. That made it the ideal place to get a few extra deer, or other game, as far as the poachers were concerned.

Sometimes, that was true. The Evans family would allow a man or woman hunting to feed their families to poach out here, and never say a word. Those poachers after out of season trophy, or just in it for the money were stopped as soon as they were identified.

Robert Evans had grown up in this house, and he loved these mountains, with a love he was passing on to his children. Those children were now sneaking up on the area the gunshots had come from, using all the skills they'd learned growing up with the Flathead Indian children on the nearby reservation.

In a few minutes, guided at the last by the smell of alcohol and blood, they came upon a grotesque sight. A large heavyset man was stripping the feathers off a Bald Eagle. Another eagle was already stripped and tossed to the side.

James' eyes blazed, and Rose felt the anger rising in him, but at nine years old, there wasn't a thing he could do right now. The man stopped for a second, shading his eyes with one bloody hand as he looked up toward the Daggerfall cliff where the eagle's nest was. "Damn sure wish I could get up that cliff," he muttered to himself, "I could get a pretty penny for them young."

They watched with revulsion as the man quickly took the bird's body apart, taking anything that could be sold for money. Rose felt James doing something with the Shaman skills he was learning from Rolling Thunder, and turned to look at him.

The eyes that looked back at her from her twin's face were still Evans green, but there was someone else there as well, and that being looked at her. _"Don't worry, James has simply asked me to loan him a little power, so that this evil might be avenged. I am here as guest only."_

Rose shivered. James was playing with fire here. The spirits were mostly friendly, but if he invited one that was not friendly, or was downright evil, he could be in serious trouble.

Her thoughts were distracted then, as she watched the scene in front of her. The mutilated bodies of the birds were getting up, and Rose felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as the things started after the poacher.

He heard something, or sensed it and turned. He stared at the birds in horror for a second and then dropped his load, clawing at the rifle slung over his shoulder. The birds were walking jerkily toward him, moving on legs that had no feet.

The poacher fired a shot at the birds and struck the first one. The high powered round passed through the bird, doing very little damage at this close range. Before the man could get another shot off, the birds were on him, striking powerful blows with wings devoid of feathers.

The man staggered under the blows and turned to run. One of the birds got under his feet and tripped him up. He fell and the birds were there, battering him into unconsciousness. Rose frowned as the birds hit the man a few more times before stopping, afraid that whatever Spirit James had called would not be satisfied with stopping the poacher.

James looked at Rose and the Spirit was still with him. "Go get Mom, would you, Rose? We'll watch over the poacher until you get back."

Rose nodded and turned to go. She stopped, looking at James uncertainly. _"Worry not, Flower child. For this chance to avenge my children, I am in your brother's debt. He shall be himself when we are done, with my thanks."_

Rose breathed a sigh of relief and left, trotting through the woods, heading for the house that the locals called the Evans mansion. Rose found their mother in the library and told her about the poacher.

Mary Evans sighed and started back the way Rose had come. She called the game warden on the way back, and then listened to Rose tell her the entire story.

When they got to the Daggerfall cliff area, they saw the game warden's truck pulling into the closest clearing off the road. They found the clearing with the birds easily, as the birds were still walking around the poacher.

Mary shuddered as she watched the corpses circling the unconscious man like wolves circling prey.

"Where's James?" Mary asked after a quick look around. Before Rose could answer that, they heard the game warden coming. The birds collapsed, and lay still.

Mary and Rose dealt with the game warden, who had collected several poachers from the Evans before, and simply followed the advice of the warden he'd replaced. He thought about it every time he was called up here.

"Willy, them Evans' will be calling you about poachers three, four times a year. They'll hand the bastards over to you, usually unconscious, and their story will be a little strange. Just collect the latest sucker and book him. Those people just aren't like you and I. In fact, you'll find a lot of people locally are a bit different from us. Don't ask any questions, and accept it. This community has been one of the best places to live in the whole country for decades, and most locals think it has something to do with those strange folk."

The old man had looked off into the distance then. "One day, you will figure out why they're strange, and I hope you've learned what to do about it by then."

William Blake, a new game warden of just twenty-two then had looked at the old man, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

The old man had shot him a look. "If I told you what you'll learn eventually, you wouldn't believe me. I know what I'm talking about, cause I've watched people move into this area for forty-seven years now. That's all I'm going to say about it, but you'll learn what I mean, and when you do, come see me."

William had found out, four years later, when he'd been lost in a blizzard, and two women had delivered him back to the ranger station on broomsticks. William had been a bit wild-eyed when he'd gone up into the mountains to visit the old man.

He'd learned about Wizards, and how they protected the area, keeping certain kinds of people out, and making the area look less than attractive to others. He'd learned a good many things since then, and with that knowledge had come acceptance.

He'd learned the rules, also. The Wizard born didn't flaunt what they were, and the Muggles didn't ask for favors. Nobody mentioned that sometimes things just happened to seem a little strange, like when the orphanage had burned to the ground in the middle of the night, without a single injury, despite the fire breaking out suddenly and there being twenty-something people sleeping in the old building.

Two days later, there was an ideal building ready for the orphans, on a plot of land that William had driven by a thousand times, and had even considered buying. Of course, when he looked at it, there hadn't been any buildings on it.

He smiled at Mary. "I appreciate all the help you give us, Mrs. Evans."

Mary smiled at the young Muggle, who had fitted in so well. "I think we've met enough times to drop the formality. My name is Mary." She considered him thoughtfully. "In fact, it occurs to me that I have been remiss. Would you do us the favor of coming to dinner next Sunday?"

William looked at her and smiled slowly. "I think I can be there, Mary." He finished securing the birds and the poachers in his truck and drove away, smiling. He'd finally become a local.

Back in the clearing, Mary looked at Rose. "Where is James?"

Rose had her eyes closed, and was slowly turning around, trying to find James with their twin bond. He was close, but she couldn't find him until she looked up. "He's up there somewhere."

They both looked up at the cliff face, a nearly sheer wall of crumbling rock. Mary said something under her breath that Rose ignored as she concentrated on James. She frowned. "He's trying to shield me, but something hurts in his shoulder."

Mary openly swore. She started off toward the house at a run. Rose couldn't hope to match the adult's speed and stayed where she was, concentrating on James, trying to use the link to ease the pain he was feeling in his shoulder.

She felt an instant of gratitude before he went back to concentrating on whatever he was doing. She was still easing the pain, which was getting worse when Mary landed her Broomstick. "Get on, and show me where he is."

Rose mounted behind Mary. "That way. He stopped moving a few minutes ago."

They flew up the face of the cliff, following the feel of James in Rose's head until James hailed them. Looking around Mary, Rose saw James' face in a small cave in the face of the cliff before James turned and went deeper into the cave.

Mary flew up and carefully maneuvered into the cave. It was not a large cave, being barely three meters high at its tallest point and five meters long.

James was sitting in back and had his shirt off. When the two women moved over to him, they saw what had kept his attention. James had his shirt wrapped around an eaglet, and was crooning to it, trying to calm the scared bird.

Mary hissed as she saw James' shoulder. He's wrapped the bird in his shirt to bring it down the cliff, and the bird had not been happy about being restrained. It had expressed its displeasure by pecking James' shoulder continuously on the way down. The flesh there was torn and ripped, and the muscle was exposed in one place.

"James, give the bird to Rose and come here."

James nodded, not stopping the crooning until Rose came up and started carefully taking the bird from James. He crossed over to Mary, who was opening the small first aid kit that she'd grabbed from the house. She started working on the gaping hole in James' shoulder. "You couldn't wait for me?"

James shrugged, careful not to jar the shoulder Mary was working on. "The eaglet might have fallen. They get hungry quickly, which is why it usually takes two parents to feed a nest."

Mary shook her head. James had been bringing every wounded, injured or orphaned animal within twenty kilometers of the house home since he was big enough to carry them, and she was used to this.

It didn't however, make her any happier about some of the risks he took to protect the animals. "I think he could have waited another twenty minutes."

"She." At Mary's blank look, James elaborated, "The eaglet is a she."

Mary finished working on James' shoulder and spread the healing ointment. She watched as the wound began closing. In about four hours, there would be only the faintest scarring, and by tomorrow, even that would be gone.

James looked around and then looked at Mary. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"How are we going to get three people and one bird out of here on one broomstick?"

Mary looked at James, and a faint smile crossed her face. "I thought I would take Rose and the bird home, and just leave you here until you were seventeen."

James grinned at his mother. "Do you really want to leave me in the wild?"

Mary smiled at James as she ruffled his hair. "No, I think not. You'd find some way to cause trouble."

"I don't go looking for trouble."

Mary and Rose exchanged looks. "You may not look for it, James," Rose said, "but it does seem to find you quite easily."

Mary took Rose down to the bottom of the cliff and came back for James and the eaglet. She used the "_Petrificus Totalus_" to freeze the bird until they were on the ground again, where James requested she lift the spell.

Mary looked pointedly at his shoulder. "Wouldn't it be better to wait until you have the bird in a cage?"

James was examining the bird and shrugged absently. "I heal better than the bird will if it panics."

Rose was looking back up the nearly two hundred meter cliff. "James, what would you have done if you had found two or three birds up there?"

James looked at her in puzzlement. "Brought them down of course."

Rose arched an eyebrow, studying the cliff. "Brother mine, you are insane."

James looked up at the cliff and shrugged. "Calculated Risk."


End file.
